Everything About You
by Celtic Song17
Summary: Leah has been bitter since Sam left. Her attempts to change that go horribly, and a Reluctant Jacob is roped in to teach a special new wolf how to be part of the group. There are dangers lurking though. Aro does love his collection. JxL a bit angsty.
1. Cub

Like most days in our little slice of Washington, it was rainy. It was grey and hazy. Today, however, was only made worse by the miserably similar attitudes Seth and I shared. For some reason, he and I were both sure that something bad was going to happen between Leah and Ryan. That alone only made me feel worse. If Seth and I were thinking this without each other's input, it seemed all the more likely to be true.

Seth had been around Ryan enough to see that Ryan and Leah were a terrible match and made it a point to gripe on constantly about it to me any chance he got. With Sue Clearwater compelled to see past that fact for her daughter, and Charlie keeping the peace at least until after he and Sue's wedding, no one else would listen to Seth. It drove me nuts for so long. I hated everything about Leah and she me. As for Ryan, well, you had to wonder where he escaped from. Willing to date the bitter angst-filled Leah? He had to have lost his mind. I had noticed that Leah was even more black-hearted now that she was with Ryan though and that was probably what worried Seth the most.

what had brought us to sitting in the woods outside Seth's house was Seth's need to see his sister when she came back from talking to Ryan. I could have been with my Nessie already, but I knew Seth would never really let me go. In a way, I almost had a morbid satisfaction for the major fuck up Leah had made of herself. Pregnant? It wasn't like Leah to do something like that without a commitment or something like that. But there we were, bored and, in Seth's case, worried as we waited for Leah to come home.

When she came into our sight, she was running full speed, full speed for human form, her long black coat and equally long dark hair wafting behind her. Her eyes were hard, but she looked furious and determined. Seth took off after Leah as she passed, calling her name. She didn't even look back at him, never a break in her stride. Seth looked back at me, pleading in his eyes.

"Stop her!" He demanded, "You're the fastest!" I took a deep breath and darted off after Leah. Even in human form, she was fast. as a girl, she was automatically more capable of running with agility, but my human form was still faster. All I had to do was catch up with her and grab her arm or something. Just stop her so she could talk to her brother.

It really confused me when I realized she was heading for the cliffs. The cliffs weren't her normal spot to brood, but then the kid might be screwing with her a bit. As we got to the cliffs, I slowed, assuming she'd do the same. You know what they say about pregnant women though. She ran on, full speed and all. The wind was strong and wild up on the cliffs as I pushed faster, realizing her intention. I caught her arm only a few steps from her eminent doom. She struggled, demanding I let go, but I held fast.

"don't do this, Leah. It isn't worth it." I told her, hoping I could come off Alpha in human form. Apparently I couldn't. She glared up at me, never ceasing her struggle to keep running.

"What does it matter to you if I died now? I don't think anyone would care. I think you'd rather enjoy it, actually." There was no crying, only a furious resentment in her voice. I didn't think there was a time when she wasn't glaring daggers at me.

"I never said I was saving you to keep you around, Leah. It really wouldn't matter to me what you chose to do at this point. I'd be happy if you shut the hell up every once and a while. I'm doing this for the cub." Shit! I already had a pet name for it? This was bad. But, she was my Beta, and if she was going to have this kid, it was going to be a part of the pack, regardless. She froze for a moment, then continued her violent struggle.

"It's not your responsibility, Jacob. Drop it." She spat my name with a voice full of venom.

"I don't care what you do, Leah, but this cub didn't turn against everyone who loved it, this cub didn't sleep with Ryan for the momentary relief from it's own personal hell, this cub isn't trying to throw itself off the cliff!" I yelled the last part, thoroughly furious with Leah's blatant attempt to give up. if she was my Beta, she had to be stronger.

She stopped hr struggle and let out a scream of anguish. She threw her shoulder at me, all of her force behind it, in an attempt to let out her fury. I caught her from behind by her upper arms and pinned them to her sides. Her movement now restricted, she fell to her knees and cried. I kept a hold on her shoulders for fear that she might try to attack again.

She was on her knees, back curled inward, sobbing uncontrollably for a couple of minutes until Seth raced up. He took in the scene on the cliff and walked over to wrap an arm around his sister. He pulled her to her feet and turned back to me. grabbing my shoulder, he thanked me and began to lead Leah home. I stayed on the cliff, watching the black water churn hungrily, angry that I'd taken it's victim away. It seemed angry that Leah had got away. I sat down at the edge, my feet hanging, tempting the already agitated water far below. at first all I could think was, 'The ocean hates me. It's like a beautiful flower with a poison that could kill anything it wanted for food.' The cliffs were the soft petals of it's facade, luring in any distraught person, and the waters were the venom, ready to consume and destroy. I had stolen it's prey twice already.

Then I realized, my hatred for this ocean, it's methods, and it's natural capability to use them, felt too much like resenting Nessie. Nessie was my venomous flower and I was sure that in some way or another, she'd be the death or me. Her, or her watery twin.


	2. Psyche

Nine months moved quickly, almost to quickly it seemed. I spent a lot of time with my fast growing Nessie, and very little thought was spared to Leah. I noticed that the only times my mind was ever on Leah, it was because that's what Seth's mind was on. It gave me a nonchalant excuse to be sure that my Beta was surviving, and I privately hoped that the boy would humble her a bit. 

Seth was antsy and jittery as the due date for earlier named Forrest Woodcroft. 

"Leah said she had no problems naming him Forrest Clearwater, but Charlie was having none of that." Seth was deep in conversation with Bella and Carlisle while we sat in the living room. I was the guinea Pig for Nessie's art experiment, but only half noticing what it was she was drawing. She had her left hand pressed against my cheek and a pencil in the other, attempting to draw my psyche out for me. She could tell that something was troubling me, and it was. I listened to Seth's stories about what had happened at home for so long, seeing that I had wanted nothing to do with Leah while her emotions were on the fritz. 

"Charlie told Leah a couple of months ago that, knowing the law and ethics, he was going to see to it that either Ryan Woodcroft was a part of Forrest's life, or he paid for his absence. Boy, it caught me by surprise, but Ryan is apparently the son of a really wealthy European business man. Forrest could be raised in total comfort and still have a fund aside for college two decades from now! Can you believe that?" Seth was still going on, apparently happy that his nephew wouldn't have a hard life as most single parent children do. 

Internally, I was a bit pleased to hear that as well. I may not have liked Leah in the slightest, but she was only nineteen. She didn't deserve to be taken advantage of and then left the way Ryan had left her. Seth was still set on edge at the mention of the name Ryan. I guess it didn't really matter who was younger and who was older with brothers and sisters. If you were a brother, you didn't let anyone hurt your sister if you could help it. This was Seth lately. He and Leah drove each other nuts, but they still loved each other.

Nessie removed her hand and tugged at my jacket sleeve. I looked down to see an amazing collaboration of symbolic memorabilia from my mind, and several faces twisted in. I could clearly make out Harry Clearwater among an arrangement of morbidly bleeding hearts, Seth's among what looked like a psychedelic forest that cast deep black shadows that looked almost human and yet not surrounding Bella's face. Hers molded almost perfectly from human in some parts to Vampire in others. All of these exploded from what looked like a crumbling stone box with the front crumbled away. Inside was the only full bodied apparition. Leah Clearwater sat on her knees in the middle of the crumbling stone room, an angelic little boy with wavy curly hair and large eyes in her arms. She sat without expression on her face, but her eyes appeared to be screaming for a way out. 

I dragged myself away from the large notepad when I saw the hands of a young woman holding the box that held Leah and the boy. The face that watched with interest from around behind the main image was my mother's clear as day. Every feature was there in clear detail. Nahuel applauded in slight amusement of her skill and Seth looked at me with an odd expression. I looked back at him, regaining my composure.

"I didn't think you could fit a psyche like mine onto a sheet of paper but she did an eerily accurate job." I told him, indicating that he go look. I wasn't sure if he would see the same things I did. Of course he'd know his dad, and himself. Bella too if he looked hard enough, but the figure of Leah had been so small, I had just assumed it was Leah for some odd reason, and I knew he wouldn't have recognized my mother. I didn't think he'd been born before she died. Even if he was, he'd have been to young to remember. 

After a moment's scrutiny, he looked back at me. 

"I wonder why Leah's trapped in a box, Jake. Is that how you see her? Trapped?" I was stunned momentarily. So it must have been Leah, no doubt. Trapped? I hadn't thought about what was linked to every person, but now it made sense. Harry with the bleeding hearts, like the cause of his death. Seth with the wigged out trees, his childish perspective of the world. Bella surrounded by the figures that appear to be Seth's trees but look much more menacing in reality, the vampires. Of course Leah was trapped. The little boy didn't fit because I had no idea in my head of what he would look like that old, and the wall was crumbling. Did that mean I was expecting her to free herself soon? suddenly I realized that Seth's limbs were shaking with small tremors that he struggled to hold back. I walked up and grabbed his shoulder.

"What is it, Seth?" I asked. Seth didn't look at me or speak for several moments. I thought he wasn't going to answer, but then he murmured, "Dad." and I understood his distress. 

Before he could feel any more broken, his phone rang. He dug it out of his pocket quickly and looked at the number. 

"Charlie." he said before answering. "Hey Charlie. Everything alright?" he was silent for a few moments, but everyone, including myself could hear Charlie.

_"Seth, I think you need to come down to the hospital. Forrest isn't waiting for his arrival date."_ Seth's smile was growing by the second as he told Charlie he was on his way and hung up. He looked at me, his smile just making the room itself feel happy.

"You comin'?" He asked. Edward and his brothers came through the door then, unacknowledged by Seth and I. 

"Yeah, Seth. Leah and I hate each other with a passion, so I'd love to come see her while her bitter hatred is edged with medicinal drugs." I answered sarcastically. 

"Sheesh. All I did was offer. Sorry to offend. I figured you might care a little since she's your beta and all..." Seth trailed off, scratching his ear vigorously. As we made to leave, Edward leaned closer to me.

"I wonder... would things be different if that passion were redirected from hatred?" He and his brother, Emmett, I think it was, both chuckled as we continued to leave. I swore I wasn't going to brood on that comment, but with Seth gone to see Leah all night, I was left with nothing to do but brood. 

I stared into the dark churning water, dropping the petals from some wild flowers I'd found on my way up, down into it's merciless depths. All the while I thought about the psyche sketch Nessie had drawn earlier. I thought about each person individually, lingering a bit longer on Leah. I thought about my mother. I thought about imprinting and how it worked. It seemed that the older Nessie got, the more strange and repelling she became to me. I assumed it was all her time around Nahuel for a while, but she was definitely changing vastly while I felt very much the same. 

For the first time since she died, I just felt like I wanted a mom to listen to my life and tell me what the best thing was to do. I just wanted someone there to tell me what choices to make. I was tired of doing everything alone, angry at my mother for leaving, and all around angry at the twisted outcome of a life I'd gotten.

I had phased in an instant, all to aware of how to, and bounded as fast as I could into the rain drenched forest. I thought about the forest, my home. My mind trailed off to Forrest Woodcroft, and I began to realize... This would be a cub you couldn't keep the secret from, and he was coming into this world without a father to teach him.

I ran faster and faster, not caring where I ran to. Only glad for the chance to run without limits or control again. Free again. I saw the sketched image of the small boy in my mind's eye, sure that Nessie had added a few ideas of her own. I wondered what it would be like to teach Forrest. I ran. 


End file.
